World Cup atmosphere lights up

More than 3.2 billion people tuned in around the world to watch the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and viewing figures for 2014 are expected to be even higher.

Philips, one of the big names in advanced sports lighting, is providing the pitch lighting at five of the 12 tournament stadiums: Fonte Nova (Salvador), Castelão (Fortaleza), Arena Pantanal (Cuiaba), Arena da Baixada (Curitiba) and Arena das Dunas (Natal).

ArenaVision lighting simulates daylight to maximise the performance of players and officials and is optimised for HDTV, 3D and super-slow-motion replays, making sure viewers can catch every detail.

For the people at the game, the experience can be enhanced by the lighting in and around the stadium, whether it is the façade, conference areas, shops, hospitality suites, changing rooms or the players’ tunnel.

With dynamic LED lighting, venues can be transformed into iconic landmarks. They can be lit in the colours of the two teams, can flash when a goal is scored or even change colour to reflect the atmosphere inside.

Philips is responsible for the façade lighting at five locations including Rio de Janeiro’s 78,000-seat Maracanã stadium, Brazil’s most famous football venue. The others are Arena Pantanal (Cuiaba), Beira Rio (Porto-Alegre), Fonte Nova (Salvador) and Arena da Baixada (Curitiba).

The indoor and outdoor technical lighting project for the Maracanã stadium was created by Mingrone Iluminação, a company with a high level of expertise in lighting projects. Here, LED lighting will reflect in the roof the colours of the national flags of the teams involved in the match.

“Philips has been lighting major sporting events for more than 60 years,” said Flávio Guimarães, commercial director of Philips Lighting Brazil. “In Brazil, we will use the latest innovations in lighting to make the event for fans in every seat around the pitch and for billions of viewers at home even more enjoyable.”